Reinecke's work is a musical
re-telling of the well-known story of Undine, the water spirit who
marries a knight, but is betrayed and takes her revenge on him.
Frank Martin's virtuosic Ballade (1939) features an acrobatic flute
cadenza, roaming melismas and irrepressible cascades, generating a
compelling sense of drama. In 1945, while in exile during the
German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Martinů composed his
Flute Sonata, in which the virtues of his distinct musical language
are plain to hear - lyrical lines, a rhythmic drive which is both
energetic and lively and an effective use of tone colour. Six years
later the bird-lover Messiaen composed Le merle noir, constructed
around the song of the blackbird, which he painstakingly noted down
and then found the means to imitate on the flute. Poulenc's melodic
Sonata, finally, has become a signature work for its composer: its
lightness, transparency and sonic refinement have charmed audiences
ever since the first performance.